Why Melissa Gilbert Wore a Red Wedding Dress to Marry Timothy Busfield
Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield have been married for 10 years. They got married in Montecito in a tiny ceremony with no guests. Busfield wore a blue suit, and Gilbert wore a red dress. Here’s a look back at the couple’s special day.
Melissa Gilbert’s red wedding dress
Gilbert and Busfield knew they wanted an intimate, no-fuss wedding with just the two of them. So the main task for the Little House on the Prairie alum to do before the “big” day was to pick the perfect dress that encapsulated the occasion. She had some trouble finding something she liked.
“I looked for months,” she wrote in her 2022 memoir, Back to the Prairie. “I tried white, but for my third wedding it seemed ironic. I tried baby pink and powder blue, but they seemed immature. Black was too foreboding for such a happy, auspicious occasion.”
One day, Gilbert’s mother suggested they peruse one of her favorite designers, Morgane Le Fay. When they walked through the door of the Morgane Le Fay in Santa Monica, their eyes went straight to the dress.
“There it was, the first dress we saw: a gorgeous, strapless, layered chiffon gown in the most beautiful deep red either of us had ever seen,” she wrote. “Both of us had the same thought. Red! It was the perfect color for a third wedding ceremony. It was the color of love and passion … and just a little bit saucy.”
All of a sudden, there was no other color the dress could be but red.
Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield’s small wedding
After Gilbert found her wedding dress, the rest was easy.
“At the end of April 2013, Tim and I drove up the California coast to the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, where, after a tremendous rainstorm, we were blessed with a beautiful blue sky and breathtaking ocean view,” Gilbert wrote of the special day. “We traded loving vows, exchanged rings, shared our favorite poems in front of a forever vista that captured everything we felt.”
It was a beautiful, intimate day that perfectly captured the love of Gilbert and Busfield. And they looked good while they were at it.
“Tim was so incredibly handsome in his blue suit, and I felt like a queen in my dress,” wrote Gilbert. “There were no guests, virtually no expense, and absolutely no drama. It was just the two of us, and then we were Mr. and Mrs. Busfield.”
How Busfield asked Gilbert to marry him
Like their wedding, Busfield’s proposal was small and intimate. The two were spending New Year’s together at Busfield’s family friend’s cabin in Michigan. At the end of the evening, as the two were getting into bed, he simply looked at her and said: “Marry me.” Without hesitation, the Laura Ingalls actor said “Okay.”
Though, on second thought, Gilbert requested that Busfield ask her again in the morning after a full night of sleep when they were clear-headed. He agreed, and about eight hours later, asked her again. It was an easy decision for Gilbert, who happily said yes.
